By Pete Nickeas and Kevin LeePublished December 17th 2008 in Small Newspaper Group (Illinois)

Electoral College members meeting in 50 state capitals Monday,
including Springfield, elected Barack Obama president and reignited the
perennial debate on how presidents are selected.

Illinois' 21 electors unanimously endorsed Obama, who won the state’s popular vote last month.

The
U.S. Constitution leaves presidential elections to a group known as the
Electoral College. The number of electors from each state is equal to
its number of representatives in Congress.

FairVote is one of
several public policy groups working to negate the influence of the
Electoral College, and implement a national popular vote system.

Under
its proposed system, state electors would vote for the candidate who
earned the most votes in the national election instead of who earned
the most votes in their state.

According to Adam Fogel, the
group’s Right to Vote director, the system would take effect if states
with a combined total of at least 270 electoral votes—the amount a
president needs to be elected—passed legislation requiring electors to
vote for the candidate won the popular vote.

"The Electoral
College does not ensure that the person receives the most votes becomes
president," Fogel said. "The person elected president should be the
person who receives the most votes nationally."

Four states, including Illinois, have passed legislation that calls for electors to vote according to the national election.

"It's
always fun to vote for Barack," Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie said at the
meeting, who is from the district Barack Obama represented as a state
senator.

Not all electors were able to participate in the
historic event, though. Mary Boland, wife of state Rep. Mike Boland,
D-East Moline, was slated to represent Illinois' 17th Congressional
District but was on a cruise in the Caribbean instead.

"We had planned months and months ago," Boland said. "So Mary had to call and cancel her being able to be an elector."

Mike
Boland, a former civics teacher, said they scheduled the vacation
before they knew the date the Electoral College would meet. But the
date is far from a secret; federal law enacted in 1948 requires
electors to meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in
December.

Mary Boland’s replacement was House Speaker Michael
J. Madigan, D-Chicago, who cast his vote without the brief speech most
others gave.

State Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, also wasn't
present. According to a representative for Halvorson, elected in
November to a U.S. House seat in District 11, inclement weather
prevented her from traveling to Springfield in time for the meeting.
State Rep. Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville, cast a vote in her place.

Sierra Club National Popular Vote Resolution

WHEREAS, the mission of the Sierra Club is to explore, enjoy and protect the planet through grassroots participation in politics and government; and

WHEREAS, presidential candidates focus their efforts and resources only in battleground states.

WHEREAS, two-thirds of the states receive little to no attention in a competitive presidential election.

THERFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Sierra Club supports National Popular Vote state legislation that will elect the President of the United States by popular vote.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Sierra Club supports election of the President of the United States by direct popular vote.